“Sure.” Then I had an idea. “Have you ever baked a turkey?”

Lexy grimaced. “Are you kidding? I can’t even stand to touch one.”

After letting out a small chuckle, I suggested, “Since you’re not going home for Thanksgiving, how about I roast a turkey?”

“You know how?” Her mouth opened wide in surprise.

“Yes. I’ll ask my friend, Emma, to help me.”

“You’re not going home?”

“No,” I said wearily, texting Emma to ask her to come for Thanksgiving. “It’s the first Thanksgiving without my dad. I don’t want to spend it with my mom and my stepdad. I’d rather spend it with my friends.”

“Girl, I will help you with everything else but the turkey.”

“Deal.”

Chapter 26

Alexandria

Lexy drove me to another place after dinner when she got a text from Seth, letting her know where they were going to celebrate Elijah’s win.

“Are you sure I should be there?” I asked worriedly. After last night, I knew we were trying to avoid each other, but I guess now would be as good a time as any to face him. Having friends around would help me, like what happened between us was no big deal. It obviously meant nothing to him.

“Why not?” Lexy gave me a strange look.

“Elijah didn’t invite me and he didn’t want me at the race.”

“I already told you why. Don’t be ridiculous. He’s just your roommate.” Lexy tugged me inside.

The air was filled with music and excitement as we walked in, and seeing all the people I recognized was comforting.

“Lexy, it’s good to see you,” a plump lady said, pulling Lexy into her arms.

“Mama Rose,” Lexy squealed, returning the hug. “This is Alex.”

“So this is Alex. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She gave me the same tight squeeze.

“Thank you,” I smiled, unsure what to call her. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Mama Rose is Seth’s mom,” Lexy explained. “She’s the owner of this restaurant.”

Seth had his mom’s green eyes and similar facial structure. “Seth’s mom,” I repeated.

“You girls here to party with the boys and all those girls?” She gestured with a nod of her head.

All of those girls? Surely she didn’t mean…oh yes, she did. I’ve never seen so many girls at any of their parties before.

“If Elijah keeps winning races like that, he’s going to have a line of girls at his doorstep. He’ll be famous like a rock star. Shoot, if I was younger, I would be first in line.”

Lexy and I snapped our eyes at each other. We started to laugh, but we held back the loud cackle that wanted to burst out of our mouths.

“It’s true,” she continued. “I may be old, but I have eyes.”

Looking through the crowd, I saw Elijah standing with a bottle of beer in his hand. With his signature leather jacket on, he leaned back against the wall, looking cool and collected. His lips deliciously curled into a sexy, irresistibly wicked grin. He was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Blood had drained out of me and an icy chill suddenly shivered through me from seeing all those girls’ hands on him. I knew girls were attracted to him, but why did it bother me this much? There was a sting in my heart, and it got worse when he kissed one of them. I had no idea who they all were. I didn’t remember ever seeing them before on campus. Knowing last night meant nothing to him for sure now, I pretended, too, but I couldn’t help the tears collecting in my eyes or the pain in my heart.

“Alex, let’s go.” Lexy broke me out of my trance.

The closer we got to them, the harder my heart pounded against my chest. The room suddenly felt small and it was difficult to breathe. I needed air. What I needed to do was to pull myself together. What made this worse was that he didn’t even acknowledge me. He had to have seen me. There was no way anyone could have missed Dean’s greeting.

“Lexy. Alex!” Dean slurred his words. He was thoroughly wasted. When he draped his arms around us, I got a good whiff of his breath. “You missed a good face…no.” He shook his head. “Pace. No. Race.” He laughed at his own words and so did we. “He almost boom….twash…no…cwash.”

I flashed my eyes at Elijah. The thought that he could have been injured made me feel sick. I could vividly picture his car smashed, or even worse, tumbling into the crowd, killing some spectators. At that moment, I caught his eyes, but he turned away so fast I knew for sure he was purposely ignoring me.

I tried to snub him as best as I could, but I couldn’t help my curious eyes shifting to him, wondering what he was doing. I knew I had seen enough when his hands and lips were on another girl.

For the first time, I felt like I didn’t belong here. Everyone at our table was chatting away and I sat there listening. Lexy was sweet for bringing me, but I should have gone with my gut and gone home instead. No! It was good thing I saw Elijah with another girl. He never did care for me in that way, and whatever fantasy or whatever thought I had about the possibility that maybe…just maybe…there could be something between us was gone. He killed it big time. My heart ached mercilessly and I was tearing up.

Tonight, he validated why I didn’t date someone like him. He validated that what I wanted was someone stable, who knew what he wanted. Sure, Liam may be domineering at times, but at least I knew he loved me, didn’t he? Even then I wasn’t sure. Not that I was thinking of working things out with him. To me, we had broken up already. To hell with guys!